


Dear Talinda

by Trash



Category: Linkin Park
Genre: Domestic Violence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2013-11-12
Packaged: 2018-01-01 07:26:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1042035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trash/pseuds/Trash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam wrote a letter to Talinda, warning her of the perils of life with Chester and, in return, Talinda puts her in her place</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dear Talinda

Dear Talinda,

I am writing in regards to Chester, although I believe that some things are better left unsaid. My first draft of this letter was completely childish and I will not inflict it on you. To make it all seem a lot less puerile I have completely re-written it, missing out the parts where I list the reasons I want your head on a pole and replacing them with all of the reasons you’ll be divorcing Chester in a year or so.

I’d like to start by saying that, despite the time that has gone by, I still perceive you as a coward who hasn’t even the faintest idea of what she’s getting into. I understand that it takes two to tango but Chester isn’t all there in the head anyway, so I am completely within my right as an ex-wife to lay the blame solely on you.

I hope you learn what I did about Chester and I hope it leaves you miserable. Like all human beings he is out for number one and number one only. Soon he will start leaving you out of his plans because the less attached to his family he seems the more chance his female fans believe they have of sleeping with him. Don’t worry about infidelity, though I’d watch out for him and Brad – I never was sure what was going on between those two.

Despite wanting to leave you out of everything he will also drag you along on tour with him and make sure there are plenty of lovely press-photos of the pair of you together where you will look airbrushed and perfect and untouchable – the nicer the image the less like a drugged up rock star he appears.

Ah the drugs. You’ll find them all over the house, eventually, because the man never was any good at keeping things a secret. Should you ever happen to confront him about it be ready with a box of tissues and a list of apologies because it’ll turn out that it’s all your fault he’s even taking them in the first place. He’ll tell you that you’re smothering him, he needs space, he’s dwelling on the past and that he’s sorry, sorry, sorry but it won’t make an ounce of difference because either way this is just the beginning.

After the drugs he’ll spend less and less time at home. You and your beautiful darling son will have to survive on your own whilst he goes out partying with other bands (never the guys from Linkin Park because they don’t do that kind of thing, save for maybe Brad) for days on end and comes home only when he needs more cocaine but hopefully by that time you’ll have mustered enough common sense to pour the bag he kept in the back of the closet down the garbage disposal.

It’s mostly cocaine you should look for should you ever go on a drugs raid through the house. You won’t find any needles because they scare him and don’t worry about finding pot because, probably, by this time he’ll have you just as hooked on the stuff as he is.

When he can’t find drugs he tends to turn to alcohol. Usually he does this in the comfort of his own home and I’d strongly advise staying away from whichever room he is drinking in and sleeping down stairs with your son. Do not talk to him and especially do not yell at him. It is pointless trying to get him to stop because, like I said, he’s looking out for number one and this is what makes number one happy so nothing much will change.

When you are stupid enough to shout at him Yves Saint Laurent do a wonderful range of full-size sunglasses that can cover even the biggest of bruises around the eyes. I’d suggest a powder based foundation on top of a liquid base to cover any others on your face. Turtleneck sweaters with long sleeves cover bruising to the neck and wrists but in the summer I’d suggest buying large wooden bangles to wear as well as a thick choker. By this stage in your relationship, wearing a bikini is completely out of the question as it would show off the bruises to your thighs and hips and the cuts where his nails broke the skin tend to scar anyway.

There’s no use in telling anybody else because if you leave him he’ll fall into a pit of depression and, most likely, kill himself and the guilt will never quite leave you. I speak from experience. Although, as you can see, he is completely over all of that now anyway and if you should be brave enough ever to ask him, he’d deny it whole heartedly and disappear for days, coming home only to drink and say hello to your son.

Don’t worry about the child – he won’t lay a finger on him. I asked him once why that was, although I didn’t really care I was just so relieved that he wasn’t going to but Draven through the same thing as he did me and he told me he could never be like his father. Tyler is safe. Don’t worry about him.

I’m not sure what happens after the time he rapes you and beats you so hard you can barely stand for a week because it’s around that time that he told me I should leave

I should close now but before I do I’d like to wish you and Chester all the best in your relationship.

All my love,

Samantha


	2. Dear Samantha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talinda writes back (written by MissB of LPFiction.com)

My dearest Samantha,

Who do you think you are? You are the ex-wife and nothing more for me. You are not my friend or my confident but I still wanted to answer you properly. Since I’m a few years younger, this might actually sound childish but unlike you, I’m quite all right with that. I found it interesting that you send me that letter now after our child has been born and I wonder sometimes why that is. On the other hand, I don’t really give a shit.

My mommy used to say to me, when I was little, that sometimes you meet a broken soul and you can decide whether or not to fix it. The first time I ever met Chester he’d been drunk out of his mind and there was still cocaine traces smeared over his face. It was a party, quite loud and insane, and we ended up fucking, though admittingly due the drugs it was a rather ugly fuck.

Who do you think I am?

I’m certainly not a princess or a dim-witted small town girl. I hadn’t indented on falling in love with a rockstar, let alone one with a broken soul. It’s in the nature of music played with an electric guitar because every note is more like a scream and if you hadn’t been so self-absorbed in your world of petty abuse, you might have noticed that Brad’s soul has been broken years ago.

You wondered about them? Let me bring some light to your thoughts. They are very close. In some ways, you might even call them lovers and if you hadn’t acted so suspiciously jealous, he might have confided this friendship to you.

You, my dear, were a fan and you shouldn’t forget where you coming from. I had not idea who the drunk fuck was when I met him.

Wasn’t it you, who followed him to every concert and gave away all of your body, even though he had all of his problems back then as well. But, oh, no they fit into the profile, didn’t they? Did you really think they’d vanish over night? Have you ever really asked what made him the way he is? No, you haven’t. You were a happy groupie that got married and moved to California.

From the beginning of this band you never truly cared about anything else than the surface and as you so brilliantly put it the illusion of a photograph made you both look ‘airbrushed and perfect and untouchable’. The perfect life for you. Famous husband, perfect family and money.

Oh, no, I’m sorry I do not doubt that he has hurt you mentally and physically. How could I since you are the third person who told me about it. The first was Chester in those tears you so regardlessly blame on an evil character. Did you know that he wanted to break up with me because of what he had done? He was scared it could happen again and he swore to stay forever single.

The second was Brad, who Chester had confessed to as well, and he told me that this wound and this temper can be treated. He also told me that it needed someone strong to keep him out of harms way.

Your preception of this band is entirely wrong and you would have known had you showed any interest. Just one look at Mike’s lovely wife would have told you that you had it good and you know why? Because Chester loved you. A part of him still loves you.

He never dares to say a bad word about you. Not when you tell him he can’t see Draven, not when you yell at him for no reason and not when you tell his mother what a horrible person her son is. Nothing. He wouldn’t even call you dumb even though for so long you couldn’t and wouldn’t look through him.

It was you, who denied seeing a couple therapist. It was you, who dismissed all possible solutions and prouldy showed off the perfect marriage. Some people want to be victims. You, Samantha, wanted to be a victim and that’s why you were never able to help him.

Don’t worry about me, dear, because I am not a victim. And I will never become one. I know that and he knows that. He’s working hard on himself and I’m not going to lie to you there are setbacks but he knows that some people care. That some people might even understand where it all comes from. He has regular therapy sessions and he just recently has even started to feel an impact.

How dare you tell me I shouldn’t worry about my son? This is outrageous for more than one reason. I would have never even remotely thought that he could harm this baby because I love this child more than anything in the world and if I’d feel not safe, I would have left a long time ago. However, I still do worry and I will never stop worrying because I hope to have Tyler see his dad healthy and happy. We’re working on that every second in our life and there is not a moment I’d regret.

Maybe if you wouldn’t have spent most time being either the proud groupie, re-decorating the house or fucking around with your lawyer you would have seen him for his real self.

This will be my response to your letter and that is all you have to know. In the future you will hear no evil word about you out of my mouth because our boys are brothers and should grow up unharmed by this childish behaviour of jealous women. And because he wouldn’t want me to think bad of you. In many ways he is grateful for the love you shared and he will forever be sorry for what he has done to you.

The past cannot be made undone.

Sincerely  
Talinda


End file.
